Keep on rockin' in the free world Dominick!
Friday, November 28, 2008
Thursday, November 27, 2008
9 mile style
Very good first half of the week...
I got in all my scheduled training and exchanged my basic core workout routine with the patented Staylor's Stability Sphere Success System aka 5S.
I had also been planning on some extra credit work today for my pre Thanksgiving workout and it worked out nicely.
The set up is this: In training for Handies I understood that it was going to be an 8 mile hike but for training I was doing a 4.5 mile hike.....sound stupid yet? :( To make it worse I was not wearing a pack in training and would need to carry a 17# pack on the climb. My reasoning was that I understood two things.
1)Half of 8 is 4...I trained the 4 miles to get up.
2)My desire to make it back home would assure me that making the second 4 was a given.
I gave no thought to the Pack other than I needed it and was going to carry it.
Well, in retrospect I under trained for Handies and determination accounts for a good 75% of my success there. One of the lessons I learned was that I didn't want to repeat the mistakes I made there because mistakes = pain on the mountain. My next route looks like it will be 7 miles with an 18# pack so rest assured I will train a minimum of 10 miles with a 25# pack long before I step foot on my next 14er.
Today was my first run of that type of training and I got up early and did 9 miles with a 15# pack. I would have carried 20#'s today but the pack I was using is insufficient for it. In addition to just hiking it I used liquid nutrition on the walk as well as follow up protein post workout. I'm working to make sure my nutrition is better for my next climb than it was last time. It turns out I suffered a lot more on the mountain than I needed to if I'd only taken the time to add a few scoops of powder into a few water bottles and done a bit more planning.....I'm working on that.
I got in all my scheduled training and exchanged my basic core workout routine with the patented Staylor's Stability Sphere Success System aka 5S.
I had also been planning on some extra credit work today for my pre Thanksgiving workout and it worked out nicely.
The set up is this: In training for Handies I understood that it was going to be an 8 mile hike but for training I was doing a 4.5 mile hike.....sound stupid yet? :( To make it worse I was not wearing a pack in training and would need to carry a 17# pack on the climb. My reasoning was that I understood two things.
1)Half of 8 is 4...I trained the 4 miles to get up.
2)My desire to make it back home would assure me that making the second 4 was a given.
I gave no thought to the Pack other than I needed it and was going to carry it.
Well, in retrospect I under trained for Handies and determination accounts for a good 75% of my success there. One of the lessons I learned was that I didn't want to repeat the mistakes I made there because mistakes = pain on the mountain. My next route looks like it will be 7 miles with an 18# pack so rest assured I will train a minimum of 10 miles with a 25# pack long before I step foot on my next 14er.
Today was my first run of that type of training and I got up early and did 9 miles with a 15# pack. I would have carried 20#'s today but the pack I was using is insufficient for it. In addition to just hiking it I used liquid nutrition on the walk as well as follow up protein post workout. I'm working to make sure my nutrition is better for my next climb than it was last time. It turns out I suffered a lot more on the mountain than I needed to if I'd only taken the time to add a few scoops of powder into a few water bottles and done a bit more planning.....I'm working on that.
Sunday, November 23, 2008
A successful week
I met my goals for this week and cutting down the Ross by 50% I am very happy to say was effective. I'm doing the same thing next week with an eye towards making the first increase in Dec. and getting the full program early next year.
I had a strange moment walking in a Lowes parking lot a few days ago when it hit me that I was going to make my end goal sometime next year. When I say it hit me I mean that it was a significant feeling. There is still a lot of work ahead of me, and a lifetimes worth on the other side but....
I'm going to reach my weight loss goal sometime next year.
It felt strange to realize that it's getting closer to a reality than just a "goal".
In addition to my main routine I got a chance to do a test run for a backpack hike I'm going to to on Thursday AM (more details later) to dig a small caloric hole that the T-day feast is going to go into. :) I also got a chance for a core workout with my buddy Shaun It was eyeopening, challenging, and fun at the same time. Shaun is a competitive (successfully competitive) athlete, a coach, very knowledgeable guy, but most importantly :) he is a top level Barista in a VERY exclusive little bistro called Cafe'de Staylor. You'd be hard pressed to find better coffee within 1000 miles or more but then again you'd be hard pressed to find this place as well. (sucks for you).
It was a good week and I'm happy with how it all went down. The only "bad" part was that my Tuesday conditioning workout almost killed me. My back was destroyed for 3 full days and it's not even 100% now. I am hoping that when it comes back around next week I'll be in a better place for the workload. It caused me to stay off the kayak this week and that was a bummer but I made a judgment call that overtraining/injury wasn't worth the risk to get out this week and took a pass and It was HARD to do on Fri for sure because I wound up with several hours free when the weather was perfect...damn that was hard but having tweaked things already and needing to nurse them back, I know it was the right call. :(
More in a few days....
I had a strange moment walking in a Lowes parking lot a few days ago when it hit me that I was going to make my end goal sometime next year. When I say it hit me I mean that it was a significant feeling. There is still a lot of work ahead of me, and a lifetimes worth on the other side but....
I'm going to reach my weight loss goal sometime next year.
It felt strange to realize that it's getting closer to a reality than just a "goal".
In addition to my main routine I got a chance to do a test run for a backpack hike I'm going to to on Thursday AM (more details later) to dig a small caloric hole that the T-day feast is going to go into. :) I also got a chance for a core workout with my buddy Shaun It was eyeopening, challenging, and fun at the same time. Shaun is a competitive (successfully competitive) athlete, a coach, very knowledgeable guy, but most importantly :) he is a top level Barista in a VERY exclusive little bistro called Cafe'de Staylor. You'd be hard pressed to find better coffee within 1000 miles or more but then again you'd be hard pressed to find this place as well. (sucks for you).
It was a good week and I'm happy with how it all went down. The only "bad" part was that my Tuesday conditioning workout almost killed me. My back was destroyed for 3 full days and it's not even 100% now. I am hoping that when it comes back around next week I'll be in a better place for the workload. It caused me to stay off the kayak this week and that was a bummer but I made a judgment call that overtraining/injury wasn't worth the risk to get out this week and took a pass and It was HARD to do on Fri for sure because I wound up with several hours free when the weather was perfect...damn that was hard but having tweaked things already and needing to nurse them back, I know it was the right call. :(
More in a few days....
Thursday, November 20, 2008
Last bit of Handies
I guess it was 2 months ago that I climbed Handies and today I lost my last external physical reminder of the event....my big toe nail. I was thinking that I'd keep the thing after the first month and that the black would eventually grow out. Not the case, the entire shebang fell off today. Not sure what I'll do now. I've grown used to looking at my jet black big toe everyday and remembering how it got there. The next 14er is still approx 10 months away. :(
At least I have Rosstraining to perform attempted murder on me because my lower back is killing me right now. I know for sure I'm on the right track based on the sheer pain of it all. I had reached a point of stability in my weight loss that I could just feel was going to be permanent (set point)if everything stayed the same. I think my body had adapted to the level of exercise and diet I was putting in and had grown comfortable in that spot. Sensing that I decided to move into a much tougher training schedule and make sure my nutrition is together. My goal is to jot something down every few days now until I have successfully gotten everything back on track.
I think it's important to say that this part is hard. Harder than the initial weight loss. It's a challenge to get started and mentally tough to stay the course when results are slow to show up but the initial phase is easier than what comes next.
I don't know what the final stage(s)look like yet but I feel like I've definitely entered phase II. The things that brought me 50#'s of weight loss, vastly improved fitness, and all my previous results are not enough anymore to continue onward. Phase II requires you keep all of that and add MORE. I want to keep a record of all of this to remember, be accountable, and possibly share it if it can help anybody else. Bottom line: it gets harder along the way....not sure what comes next but it's war right now.
I'll get back to doing weekly weigh ins soon but for now it's not important. It's become a small detail lost in the big picture. The things you do now, next week, this month...those are going to shape next year. The individual #'s are very important (and won't go untracked) but now isn't the time to look too closely at it. As a measuring tool sure, but the focus and attention has to be on something to bring longer term success right now or else you can wind up doing something stupid just to make temporary gains (losses). Not worth it! My weight isn't dropping right now and I know that but the ass kicking structures I'm building right now are going to resolve that issue. ;)
At least I have Rosstraining to perform attempted murder on me because my lower back is killing me right now. I know for sure I'm on the right track based on the sheer pain of it all. I had reached a point of stability in my weight loss that I could just feel was going to be permanent (set point)if everything stayed the same. I think my body had adapted to the level of exercise and diet I was putting in and had grown comfortable in that spot. Sensing that I decided to move into a much tougher training schedule and make sure my nutrition is together. My goal is to jot something down every few days now until I have successfully gotten everything back on track.
I think it's important to say that this part is hard. Harder than the initial weight loss. It's a challenge to get started and mentally tough to stay the course when results are slow to show up but the initial phase is easier than what comes next.
I don't know what the final stage(s)look like yet but I feel like I've definitely entered phase II. The things that brought me 50#'s of weight loss, vastly improved fitness, and all my previous results are not enough anymore to continue onward. Phase II requires you keep all of that and add MORE. I want to keep a record of all of this to remember, be accountable, and possibly share it if it can help anybody else. Bottom line: it gets harder along the way....not sure what comes next but it's war right now.
I'll get back to doing weekly weigh ins soon but for now it's not important. It's become a small detail lost in the big picture. The things you do now, next week, this month...those are going to shape next year. The individual #'s are very important (and won't go untracked) but now isn't the time to look too closely at it. As a measuring tool sure, but the focus and attention has to be on something to bring longer term success right now or else you can wind up doing something stupid just to make temporary gains (losses). Not worth it! My weight isn't dropping right now and I know that but the ass kicking structures I'm building right now are going to resolve that issue. ;)
Tuesday, November 18, 2008
Bigger water shorter sets
The weather was perfect this weekend so I took the opportunity to get the kayak out in some bigger water. I got over to Telfair and it was sweet! Instead of the 6 min trip across my neighborhood lake Telfair took me 35min out and 45min back. Not only do I get over an hour on the water it's a cooler trip. There is tons of wildlife out there with ducks, several kinds of cranes, turtles, and whatnot. I learned that for now 80 min of continuous paddling is enough to toast my arms. :)
My goal this week was to break down my Rosstraining into small enough chunks that I can manage it. I decided on a full 50% reduction in the beginning program for a week and then gradual builds up to the full program. I cut 50% because I'm determined to be doing the full program in 2009 and it's really hard for me. I felt like 50% was realistic enough that if i don't do it it's not because I "can't". I pretty much forced my own hand here.
Yesterday was strength training and at 50% it was not all that hard. I can do it for a week and bump it up without much trouble. Today was conditioning and core. I still have to do core but I'll be doing my full core routine and it will be fine. I just did conditioning at 50% and this is my weakness.....it is extremely difficult. I managed the 50% mark but it was a little woozy. I'll be able to go at 50% on this but it's hard and might take me 2-3 weeks to start bumping this part up.
So......report is so far so good on my goal for RT. I'm going to get there....more in a couple of days.
My goal this week was to break down my Rosstraining into small enough chunks that I can manage it. I decided on a full 50% reduction in the beginning program for a week and then gradual builds up to the full program. I cut 50% because I'm determined to be doing the full program in 2009 and it's really hard for me. I felt like 50% was realistic enough that if i don't do it it's not because I "can't". I pretty much forced my own hand here.
Yesterday was strength training and at 50% it was not all that hard. I can do it for a week and bump it up without much trouble. Today was conditioning and core. I still have to do core but I'll be doing my full core routine and it will be fine. I just did conditioning at 50% and this is my weakness.....it is extremely difficult. I managed the 50% mark but it was a little woozy. I'll be able to go at 50% on this but it's hard and might take me 2-3 weeks to start bumping this part up.
So......report is so far so good on my goal for RT. I'm going to get there....more in a couple of days.
Tuesday, November 11, 2008
Harder than hard
I wanted to be posting all bout how great my Rosstraining was going....
It's harder than that...it's not going so great.
In a way I feel bad but in another way I feel encouraged because I have a plan now. Next week I'm going to break down the beg R.T. program in as small of chunks as necessary for me to complete. I'm going to build on that (no matter how small it is) and I'm going to build up to the full routines even if it kills me.
This plan is fool proof because either I'll make the goal or I will be dead and weighing only 21 grams should make completing the exercises a LOT easier. :)
I'm going into a tunnel now RossTraining or die!!
Updates to follow shortly......I hope. :o
It's harder than that...it's not going so great.
In a way I feel bad but in another way I feel encouraged because I have a plan now. Next week I'm going to break down the beg R.T. program in as small of chunks as necessary for me to complete. I'm going to build on that (no matter how small it is) and I'm going to build up to the full routines even if it kills me.
This plan is fool proof because either I'll make the goal or I will be dead and weighing only 21 grams should make completing the exercises a LOT easier. :)
I'm going into a tunnel now RossTraining or die!!
Updates to follow shortly......I hope. :o
Sunday, November 2, 2008
Time for massive action
What an crazy time since my last post.
My buddy Shaun gave me the short notice challenge last week that went something like this "Dude what are you doing day after tomorrow because I have 2 plane tickets to Chicago and 2 tickets to UFC 90 burning a hole in my pocket....what's up"?
We ended up doing a whirlwind 24 hour trip that jammed about 4 "normal people" days into one outlandish adventure. Damn that was fun! :) It deserves it's own post with pictures so I'll get something together later this week about the madness that was our Chicago UFC adventure.
On the fitness front: Things are (and have been) fairly static lately...too static for sure and something started making itself known as soon as the shadow of Chicago was in the airplanes rear view mirror. This thing has been looming for some time now and as it started to make it's presence require attention one of those cosmic signs happened and then it was all over. The time has come to get back to where I started with the RossTraining. I was not in good enough shape when I started to make a fair go of it but that was then and this is now. I know it's going to be VERY hard and there has been a certain amount of dragging my feet leading up to this but here it is.
IT'S ON!
With only 2 months left in this year I am fired up to make these last 8 weeks count. I'm going to throw everything I have into the rest of this year for a bunch of reasons. One reason is just that I owe it to the year. I've accomplished a lot in 2008 and I can't let it ease out without finishing strong. I expect to have significantly increased blogging the next 8 weeks as well because there is much to go over and I want to document this phase to look back on later.
More to follow soon......
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